Franz Welser-Möst
Franz Welser-Möst (born 16 August 1960) is an Austrian conductor.
Biography
Franz Leopold Maria Möst was born in Linz, Austria and later studied under the composer Balduin Sulzer. As a youth in Linz, he studied the violin and had developed an interest in conducting. After suffering injuries in a car crash that led to nerve damage, he stopped his violin studies and shifted full-time to conducting studies.[1]
In 1985, Möst assumed the stage name Welser-Möst on suggestion of his mentor, Baron Andreas von Bennigsen of Liechtenstein, thus paying homage to the city of Wels where he grew up.[2][3] In 1986, he was adopted by von Bennigsen. In 1992, Welser-Möst married von Bennigsen's former wife, Angelika.[4][5][6] His first major debuts were at the Salzburg Festival in 1985, followed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 1986. Other guest conductor appearances comprised the first five years of his career: his American debut with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra in 1989, performances with the orchestras of Atlanta, Boston, New York, Chicago, plus frequent returns to the London Philharmonic. In 1990, Welser-Möst became principal conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO).[7] His LPO tenure was controversial, with London critics giving him the nickname "Frankly Worse than Most".[4] He concluded his LPO tenure in 1996.
From 1995 to 2000, he was music director with the Zurich Opera House. While there, he led 27 new performances as well as numerous revivals. His most noteworthy performances there included the complete Ring Cycle. He became general music director of the Zurich Opera in September 2005, with an original commitment to the Opera through 2011, but Welser-Möst stood down from the Zurich post in July 2008.
Welser-Möst became music director of The Cleveland Orchestra with the 2002–2003 season, for an initial contract of 5 years. At the end of his first season, his contract was extended for another 5 years. In June 2008, the orchestra announced a further extension of his contract with The Cleveland Orchestra through the 2017–2018 season.[8][9]
On June 6, 2007, the Austrian government announced the appointment of Welser-Möst as Musical Director (Generalmusikdirektor) of the Vienna State Opera beginning in September 2010, alongside Dominique Meyer as director (Staatsoperndirektor).[10][11] Welser-Möst had debuted at the Staatsoper in 1987, taking over from Claudio Abbado Gioachino Rossini's l'Italiana in Algeri. It took more than 10 years for Welser-Möst to return to the State Opera where he conducted Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde. In December 2006 he led his first new production in Vienna, Richard Strauss' Arabella.
Franz Welser-Möst is an honorary member of the Wiener Singverein.[12]
Recordings
From the start of his career Welser-Möst has heavily emphasized the importance of recording his work. While conducting the LPO he established an exclusive recording contract with EMI. This move produced several great successes and awards. His 1996 recording of Franz Schmidt's Symphony No. 4 received the Gramophone Award for Best Orchestral Conducting. The CDs of Anton Bruckner's Mass No. 3 Te Deum and works of Erich Korngold both received Grammy Award nominations for "Best Classical Album." EMI struck a similar deal with Welser-Möst to record performances at the Zurich Opera and has released a number of DVD's of his Zurich opera productions. In 2008 EMI reissued many of Welser-Möst's earlier recordings in an eight CD set. In October of 2007, Deutsche Grammophon released the first commercial recording featuring Welser-Möst with The Cleveland Orchestra: Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 including German bass Rene Pape among the soloists.[13]
References
- ^ Ivan Hewitt (2005-08-18). "Why all those insults made me stronger". Telegraph. Retrieved 2008-10-05.
- ^ ""Was glauben Sie?" – Der Dirigent Franz Welser-Möst" (in German). ORF Religion. 25 February 2006. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "Der Auslandsösterreicher des Jahres 2001–Franz Welser-Möst" (PDF). ROTWEISSROT (in German). Auslandsösterreicher-Weltbund. January 2003. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ a b Lebrecht, Norman (12 February 2004). "Franz Welser-Möst — The conductor they loved to hate". La Scena Musicale. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ Lebrecht, Norman (16 August 2000). "He might be smiling now… — Franz Welser-Möst Returns to Conduct the Proms". La Scena Musicale. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ Naredi-Rainer, Ernst (27 June 2006). "Schwierige Annäherung an Wien". NEUE Vorarlberger Tageszeitung (in German). Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ Nicholas Kenyon (15 March 1992). "A Young Conductor Starts at the Top". New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-03.
- ^ Donald Rosenberg and Zachary Lewis (6 June 2008). "Cleveland Orchestra extends Welser-Most's contract until 2018, plans staged operas". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ James R. Oestreich (7 June 2008). "Cleveland Orchestra Extends Music Director's Contract". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-06-07.
- ^ Pelinka, Nikolaus (6 June 2007). "Kulturministerin Claudia Schmied: "Dominique Meyer wird 2010 Direktor der Wiener Staatsoper"" (in German). Bundesministerium für Unterricht, Kunst und Kultur. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ Westphal, Matthew (6 June 2007). "Vienna State Opera Appoints Dominique Meyer Its Next Director, with Franz Welser-Möst as Music Director". Playbill Arts. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
- ^ Dr. Reiber. "Wiener Singverein" (Microsoft Word) (in German). Wiener Singverein. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
- ^ Tsioulcas, Anastasia (6 March 2007). "Cleveland Orchestra partners with DG". The Gramophone. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- Rosenberg, Donald (2000). The Cleveland Orchestra Story. Cleveland: Gray & Company. ISBN 1886228248.